


daughter of mandalore

by jatazak (jazztap)



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Episode: s04e02 Heroes of Mandalore, Gen, honestly they're Death Watch, slight AU, the named villain dies for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 18:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12612336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazztap/pseuds/jatazak
Summary: some children grow up despite war. some do not escape, but grow with it.(or, sabine uses the weapon of her exile against the empire. also, ezra tries to help.)





	daughter of mandalore

sabine standing over the empty armor of the emperor's hand's brother, filled with dust, like the some-dozen stormtrooper armors on the level below, like the Clan Wren armors in the wasteland beyond. the darksaber, an instrument of just regicide, fits in her hand like it belongs.

the Duchess' sister looks like she wants to strangle sabine again - the weapon hums behind her, momentarily spent, - so, in other words, sabine feels right at home. ezra pops up the lift, unhelmed. sabine exhales in relief, to her own surprise, and beckons him over. "Come on, let's get this moved."

"Sabine, what-" happened here? you were captured, I'm here to save- "I thought we were here to destroy it?"

"We're here to free Mand'alor, and that's what I'm doing. It's like Fenn Rau said." sabine shoots bo-katan a look - that seems to have shut her up. "We'll be attacked again. But I wonder what price the Empire would pay now?"

ezra remembers very well the at-at he walked off a suborbital station using the pilot's hands. guesses sabine is already fighting to justify this escalation to herself, won't mind an excuse to fight someone else.

the lesser Saxon's plastoid armor crumbles into a heap at her touch, suggesting an inefficiency. sabine brushes a stray draft of hair back towards her ear. ezra's hand touches her shoulder, and he doesn't see anything of the lancing arc lightning, the chain of dusted troopers in her amber eyes.

  


somewhere in the familiar rhythm of taking the weapon core to pieces, mining its walker platform for good measure - defensive purposes only, if the weapon is to be used again - kanan confronts him. "What happened?"

("It's not for certain I'll be able to get it back together again - besides no plans, I want to make sure the selectivity is hardwired. It's a stupid hack I used - the electron something in the such-and-such, despite the..." sabine smirked at ezra zoning out. "There's a reason I waited to correct the last amplification loop."

"You mean, you didn't know only the Imperials would be affected? That's..."

"I've hurt my people today, and it could've been worse. If I hadn't been so stupid-"

ezra shook his head fiercely, "I know what it's like at those academies. There's only one way to excel in that world. A couple, maybe."

"Doesn't excuse that I knew what I was doing. Not with deleting the files, obviously, but every other bridge that I could burn..." sabine's fists clenched.)

ezra wraps the spare goggles around his hands. honestly, sabine's custom scout helmet job is the least of today's losses, but still. "She blames herself, Kanan. For not protecting her family. It's the same trick Maul used, and that holocron. But they're not here."

kanan looks pained. "Everyone wanders a different desert. Rebels, and Mandalorians, even Imperials. No soldier deserves to die in that way. Hey, are you listening?" right, because fighting imps with a slingshot is much better.

  


sabine stands with ursa in the private room, the direct line to capitol (formerly the only link to tristan, let alone-) within the Wren compound.

"I gave him an opening, didn't I? The other Saxon. You won this from him in battle." but the Countess presses the hilt back into her daughter's hands.

"I intervened as a matter of honor. Anyway, I am very much a former loyalist, with a history in the Death Watch, and not terribly popular in Sundari. Bo-Katan, on the other hand, has established her distance from both sordid accounts."

"And she'd erase my mistake just as easily. She made it clear enough that her honor doesn't allow for such things."

"However, she cannot destroy our best defense, if you are able to demonstrate your repairs as... decisively again. Sabine, you're an artist with any device, even if this one nearly was the death of Tristan and me."

ursa laughs. of course, a kill count would impress her. reluctantly, sabine laughs with her. it's how they commemorate a victory at a cost.

(sabine will sit with the Duchess, in its last incarnation, and spend the time to ensure it does not touch her people again. sabine will layer her livery again in Wren yellow, Spectre orange, and her own purple. but the weapon is not a Rebel weapon, is nothing like Ezra's TIE.)

the warriors of House Viszla are assembled. sabine passes the hilt forwards, her eyes meeting flat Kryze emerald, wondering if they once burned too. bo-katan raises the darksaber aloft, death standing behind her shoulder. her people cheer.

**Author's Note:**

> A gift to myself for Halloween. Surprised to see not only Mira but Bao-Dur in Sabine's arc. KotOR 2 still bleeds into Rebels, by shades and bits.
> 
> Edit 11/4/17 for consistency and segmentation.


End file.
